Sunday, 4 March 2007

We longed this weekend for a sign of autumn coming. We had grand plans for being able to work in the garden without sweating, for eating autumnal foods, for sleeping without gasping for air.

None of this happened.

Actually that's not quite true. In absolute defiance of the outrageously hot day yesterday, I cooked a rack of lamb with a mustard and herb crust, roasted autumnal vegetables and baked a cake in the afternoon when it was still sweltering. OK, so that made the kitchen hotter and I think Sean was cursing me, but hey, he got to eat tasty things later when it was slightly less hot, so I think he got over cursing me.

I made the yummiest cake. Pistachio, cardamom and yoghurt, with a lime glaze. WOW. Spectacular stuff.

And this morning, in anticipation of a couple of girlfriends coming over for an afternoon of [insert craft of choice], eating and chatting, I made this:

Olive and rosemary bread. It didn't last long once my friends arrived! I swear I don't know how I lived before I knew about baking bread. Why has it taken me nearly 35 years to figure out that it's possibly one of the coolest things you can do?

I was talking about baking bread at work the other day and seriously, at least three people (who I know for certain are borderline, if not card carrying, foodies), looked at me like I was insane.

They said, 'but why? Why would you bother with that?'

Um....because I get to make any kind of bread I like, because it's a skill I'm glad I have found, because it tastes so good and because really, for about 30 minutes work and a whole bunch of waiting (during which time I am unable to control my excitement as it rises), I get something fabulously tasty and beautiful.

That's why.

The people at work remained unconvinced. These are the same people who laugh at me knitting at work. Oh well. Do I care?

Other things to show.

Here are the stitch markers that came in the mail last week from Kristen's etsy shop, Sarkasmo.

I'm developing a nice little collection of these trinkets and Kristen's are just lovely. It was my first etsy purchase, just to see how it would go.

Very nicely, actually.

This isn't all of them. The others are in use.

I'm going to buy more from her at some point. Her shop declares 'dress up your knitting' and what a great way to do it. I had to restrain myself when I was ordering these ones. Her markers are so delicate and pretty!

Next, I have one half of the pair of socks I mentioned yesterday, a little pair for my friend's newborn baby boy, Oliver. These are made out of left over yarn from the miraculous first pair of socks I made in December.

Aren't they cute? The second one is just about ready to be cast off - I'm up to the toes. I want to get them in the mail tomorrow.

I think I will try and knit for babies more often. I love the speed!

I recently bought some wool from Happy Spider to make more socks. I LOVE this wool! Look at the richness of the colours! It's edible stuff, I tell you. Spidey, you rock.I've cast on the next pair of socks, as seen here, and am flying through them. I think my sister will love these. Only three weeks until her birthday. I'm sure I'll have them done in plenty of time.

I can't say enough good stuff about Ms Spider's yarn. It's incredibly soft, has a goodly amount of stretch to it and I feel like the colours work really well for this pattern.

Oh and hey, notice something else? The main reason for taking these photos outside just now, apart from the light, is to show off the green that has shown up for the first time since we moved in. Our paddock looks slightly less like a paddock now thanks to some serious dumps of rain in the last week or two. It's still a patchwork of green and brown, but it's a definite improvement. I just hope some of that rain landed on the farmers around the place. They need it more than we do.

Now, what else can I do for the rest of this afternoon/evening to keep that 'night before Monday blues' feeling at bay?